Help & FAQs

GENERAL

What is Active Voice?

Active Voice is Pentland's online research community made up of people like you that want to get involved in the future of Pentland. Active Voice gives you the opportunity to give feedback on a variety of topics; these can range from products and services to ideas that Pentland may have.

Who are Verve?

Verve Partners Limited ("Verve") is an independent market research company that specialises in building and managing online communities. Pentland has commissioned Verve to manage Active Voice. Verve is responsible for the maintenance of the community panel website, setting up and managing research activities such as surveys and discussions, and community administration. Further information about Verve can be found at www.addverve.com.

What information is required to join Active Voice?

We'll ask you a few simple questions including basic contact information, gender, age and details about different stores you visit. This will create your member profile, and we'll use it to ensure your experience as a Active Voice member is relevant to you.

How long will I remain in the community?

As long as you want. You can leave at any time using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the emails received from us. Alternatively you can email claire@pentlandactivevoice.com and request to be removed from the community.

Is this a social media site?

Active Voice is an online research community where you'll be able to give us feedback on a variety of topics. It is not a social media site.

Will Active Voice be used for marketing purposes?

It won't be used for marketing purposes or to sell products and services.

I have not been invited to participate in any surveys for a while.

If you haven't had an email for a while please make sure they haven't been filtered into your junk mail or spam folders.

We try to ensure we only send you surveys that are relevant to you and are based on the needs of the business, so it may just be that recent surveys weren't right for you. We do include as many members as possible and have regular quick polls available on the Active Voice site, which all members can take part in.

Can I see the results of surveys I've taken part in?

We're aiming to provide regular updates on how we have used your responses and these can be found in the "News" section. We won't always be able to provide updates on everything but all results are shared with the appropriate business department.

Do I need special computer hardware or software to participate?

All activities on Active Voice are designed to run quickly and easily on most computer systems, tablets and mobile phones. All you need is:

Access to a recent version of one of the most common internet browsers.

An email account.

A web camera and sound card (these are required for some of the more interactive community features, but are not compulsory for community membership).

Will I incur data usage charges from my mobile network provider for using Active Voice on a mobile device?

Internet access is needed to access Active Voice (either via the website or app). If you choose to access Active Voice through a mobile device charges may be incurred by your network provider based on your mobile device's data usage package. To avoid data usage charges the use of a Wifi connection is recommended.

COMPLETING SURVEYS

How often will I receive surveys?

You will be given regular opportunities to take part in surveys which are relevant to you.

How do I complete a survey?

You'll be e-mailed a unique URL address for each survey you're asked to complete. Simply click on the URL included in the email or cut and paste the address into a web browser and complete the survey form online. You can also login to Active Voice and check if there are any new research activities, we aim to keep them relatively short because we know that you're busy.

How long will I have to complete each survey?

Usually between 72 hours to one week. We'll provide the closing dates with each survey invitation.

How many surveys do I have to complete?

We'd love you to participate in as many as you can. There's no minimum or maximum but we may review the membership of Active Voice members that don't participate.

How can I be sure you got my responses?

Click on the survey link when you're finished and a message stating that you've already completed the survey will appear.

What if I have questions about completing a survey?

We make every attempt to respond quickly to member enquiries and are committed to maintaining a high level of service. On average, we try to respond to messages within a maximum of 48 hours if an enquiry is submitted during normal office hours and on the next available working day if the enquiry is submitted on the weekend or a bank holiday.

What if I do not know how to answer certain survey questions?

Alongside all of our questions there should be an explanation which clearly states how the question should be answered. If this explanation is not clear please email claire@pentlandactivevoice.com to let us know.

What if I am not able to complete / submit the survey you have emailed me?

Have you filled in all survey fields?
To submit a survey all required fields need to be filled in so please double check that you have completed all required rows and columns.

Have you only used whole numbers when entering numerical data?
Surveys can only take whole numbers so please check that you have used only whole numbers when entering numerical data (e.g. 99 but not 99.99).

Other
If you have checked all of the above and are still having trouble completing or submitting a survey, please email claire@pentlandactivevoice.com.

How are the results of the research used?

We will use the research and information you give us to support Pentland in developing their products and services to better meet your needs. We may publish survey results in the press or use them in our internal marketing materials. All results will be published at an aggregate level and will be kept anonymous. For further details see our Privacy Policy.

PRIVACY

What rights do I have as a Active Voice member?

We really value your participation in Active Voice and are committed to your right to privacy. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information on how we protect your privacy.

How will Pentland make sure that my details are kept secure?

Verve, our selected third party provider, has been through a rigorous information security process. As the Active Voice website is separate to our main Pentland website, you'll sign up to Active Voice separately and no information will be shared between the two sites This includes email addresses. All logins to the website are completed via a secure site with SSL encryption.

Will my answers to surveys and other activities always be used anonymously?

We adhere to the Market Research Society Code of Conduct, so individual responses to surveys will not be shown. All responses are aggregated and anonymised unless you've specifically given consent to be individually identified.

Will my profile information be sold to other companies?

No, all information is strictly confidential and privacy is guaranteed. Your details will never be sold, exchanged, or distributed to any other party without your expressed acknowledgement. All of our third party suppliers go through a stringent vetting process. See our Privacy Policy for complete details.

LOG IN AND PASSWORD PROBLEMS

When I try to login, I receive an 'Invalid email address or password' message.

Usernames and passwords are case sensitive so make sure the caps lock is turned off. Check that you're using the email that you registered with. If you still can't login please email our helpdesk for further assistance.

What if I forget my password?

If you can't remember your password, click on the “Forgot password” button on the login page and a link to reset your password will be e-mailed to you. If you still have problems please email our helpdesk for further assistance.

How do I change my details with Pentland?

To change your account or personal details you need to contact Pentland. Please click here for details of how you can do this. Please note that if you change any personal details with Pentland these won't be updated on Active Voice.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES

I have a customer services issue regarding Pentland?

The technical support team at Verve can only help with questions about the Active Voice website or surveys. If you have any issues with your Pentland account or service please contact Pentland direct by clicking here.

I have a suggestion for the Active Voice website.

If you think we can improve how we do things in our surveys or the Active Voice website, then we want to know. Click here to let us know what you think.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

I can't login.

If you've just joined the panel and have not yet received a confirmation email you will not be able to login to the panel. Please check your inbox and click the link in your confirmation email to complete your registration to gain access to the panel.

If you're already a member of the panel, please make sure you don't enter extra blank spaces when typing/pasting in your email address or password. The password is case sensitive.

You'll be able to change your password once you're logged into the portal by clicking on 'My Profile' at the top of the screen by the logout button.

I cannot remember my password or my password does not work.

If you can't remember your password click on the “Forgot password” button on the login page. You will then be asked to enter the email address you registered with. Once this is confirmed, a reset password link will be sent to you via email. Click on the link within the email and you’ll be taken to a screen where you will be able to change your password.

Please make sure you don't enter extra blank spaces when typing/pasting in your email address or password. The password is case sensitive.

Reset passwords can take up to 10 minutes to arrive, depending on your email provider. If your link doesn't arrive it may be that you entered an email address which is not identical to the one you registered with or it could be in your junk mail or spam folder.

I did not receive my confirmation email or I am not receiving emails from you.

Depending on your email provider and your personal email settings, some emails sent from an automated system may be diverted directly into your junk mail or spam folder. To avoid this situation, you can add our email address to your safe sender list, safe recipient list, white list (different names are used by different email providers) or to your address book. If you have checked your junk mail folder and have not been able to find a copy of your confirmation email, please contact the helpdesk.

My page is blank, not loading or I cannot move to the next page.

Please allow two minutes for the page to load. The page may take a few minutes to load depending on your connection speed.

Refresh the page: try to either restart or click the refresh/reload button on your browser. In most cases this will reload the question properly and will allow you to complete the survey.

Alternatively if you have another browser on your computer, try to access the survey on that browser to see if that makes a difference.

I would like to update my email address / password.

To change your email address on Active Voice, please contact our helpdesk. You can update your password in the 'My Profile' section of the site. Please ensure you choose a new password that includes 6 to 12 characters and at least one number. The password is case sensitive and must not include any spaces.

If you change any personal details on Active Voice these won't be updated on your Pentland account and vice versa. Please click here to go to the Pentland site for contact details.

Where do I report abuse?

If you find a post on the discussion boards that you feel is abusive towards you or another member, please click on the 'Report Abuse' button that is located in the bottom left of the post. This will flag the post for the moderators who will then review it. If the post is viewed as inappropriate by the moderators it will be removed and the moderators will follow-up with the member accordingly.

I would like to unsubscribe.

You can leave at any time using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the emails that you receive from us. Alternatively you can unsubscribe by emailing our helpdesk with the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

I have questions or feedback not related to Active Voice.

You'll need to raise these directly with Pentland. Please click here to be directed to the website.

Other technical errors.

If you experience any other technical errors related to Active Voice or the surveys and research activities we ask you to complete, please email the helpdesk.

If you have any questions related to Pentland products or services you receive, please contact Pentland Customer Service directly.

If you are having problems which are not covered by the previous categories, please email our helpdesk.